Anime, a category of animation that dates back at least to 1958’s The White Snake Story, has nothing to offer at this point; Non-Japanese audiences are seldom surprised by the variety and intensity of the films it includes, which are often much broader and more varied than American animation (which is still more commonly thought of as something exclusively for children).
The word “anime” is just one form of the Japanese word that refers to animation, and while Japanese filmmakers have excelled at creating animated films for decades, it is considered to represent a specific and express taste or genre. That’s not the case: films like Ghost in the Shell, The Red Turtle, Weathering with You, and Howl’s Moving Castle have very little unusual aside from their prestige as classics of general cinema and their brilliant, regularly hand-drawn animation.
Most streaming anime videos will be familiar to anime fans, but for newcomers, any of them would be a great position to immerse themselves in the vast world of anime.
Mitsuha, a country girl, starts a mysterious industry with Taki, a boy from Tokyo, and the two slowly come to realize their separate lives. Shocking revelations at the time of the act drag down what begins as a romantic coming of age. It’s a comedy in the deeper waters of science fiction, and the film proves to have much more in mind than a cute metaphysical encounter. Director Makoto Shinkai (Weathering with You) and animators play brilliantly with the light, providing some of the film’s real life. Position surprising bursts. Never has a frame-shifting story been so superbly depicted, and the film holds a well-deserved position among the anime box office champions of all time.
Where to stream: The Criterion Channel, Crunchyroll
This crazy adventure through Hiroyuki Kitakubo, one of the animators of Akira, is set in the short term that, being made in 1991, turns out to be at the beginning of the 21st century. Kijuro Takazawa, an 87-year-old widower, is the first review subject of an experimental robotic hospital bed designed to meet a patient’s every wish. But then the bed starts to convey his thoughts and things get more dramatic from there (if you think about this story of a dying man and long-term fitness). Care couldn’t be turned into a mecha anime, you’re wrong. )Despite all these crazy developments, there are clever comments about our eagerness to forget about the wishes of older adults and how even “huguye” technological advances can be dehuguyizing.
Where to stream: YouTube
It’s a movie that everyone has heard of, and for good reason: its incredibly kinetic animation and highly detailed cityscape established a new popularity in anime: writer-director Katsuhiro Otomo and his company gave birth to a new animated world with this film, and we’re still living in it. Set in a dystopian 2019 (well, more dystopian than our 2019), the cyberpunk classic discovers biker Kaneda forced to confront his friend Tetsuo after the latter acquires telekinetic talents in an accident. Akira is so much more than its action, and it’s dense enough that it can be hard for the uninitiated to follow, but it’s a movie that helps keep growing with each scene.
Where to stream: Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation
This Studio Ghibli production is, technically, a co-production between Japan and France with a Dutch director, which perhaps broadens the definition of anime a bit (globally, we have a tendency to use the term to refer to animation that explicitly comes from Japan). We’re not here to be picky, especially about something so charming and heartwarming. The dialogue-free movie tells the story of a guy who finds himself trapped on an abandoned island with only one giant tortoise for company, and it turns out that the turtle is keeping a secret that changes the boy’s life. What begins as a story of survival takes on a deeper resonance as their bond develops on this difficult emotional journey.
Where to stream: Starz
Dr. Atsuko Chiba and her colleagues are working on a healing tool, a dream-sharing device. She is a scientist by day and, as Paprika’s titular ego, a dream detective by night, who ventures into dreams to help her psychiatric patients. The device you use can break people’s minds when it’s in their hands, and so when it’s stolen, you know you want to be recovered. Satoshi Kon’s astonishing masterpiece obviously encouraged Christopher Nolan’s Inception, playing with layers of emotion and truth without ever leaving its disoriented audience.
Well, a little confused. You’ll definitely get a little lost from time to time, but it’s worth the detour.
Where to stream: Tubi
This one might be a tough sell for the uninitiated, given that this is the 20th Dragon Ball movie, and that’s not even to mention the multiple TV series (nor, of course, the full-length manga). Still, as access in In the Series, you might do a lot worse than this wildly action-packed access, which is probably the most productive of the movies. The series takes Goku and Vegeta to meet an exiled and incredibly difficult Saiyan fighter named Broly, leading to generally colorful situations. chaos. Susceptible and uncontrollable, Broly is a truly tragic antagonist, and the emotional stakes put him a bit above the Dragon Ball average.
Where to stream: Crunchyroll
Loosely based on John Ford’s 1948 The 3 Godfathers, it begins with a drag queen, a runaway teenager, and a good-hearted middle-aged alcoholic living on the streets of Tokyo. On Christmas Eve, strange partners meet a baby in a trash can. With few clues, the three spend the night searching the streets of Tokyo for the baby’s parents. The heartwarming adventure that follows comes from director Satoshi Kon, who also helmed other classics on this list, such as Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Paprika. his life and career too short (in 2010, he died of pancreatic cancer at just 46 years old).
Where to stream: Tubi, Hoopla, The Roku Channel
Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1965 novel of the same name is cited as an early (and popular) use of the now-familiar time-loop narrative, and has been adapted several times in Japan. The most productive edition (even the author of the book enjoyed it) is this 2006 anime from director Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai), which follows 17-year-old Makoto Konno, who, after a blunder that puts her on the trail of an oncoming train, discovers that she has the ability to return to herself. time. Temporarily deducing that employing force to gain one’s own advantage can have accidental consequences, he begins to deploy force only for small, frivolous things. Which is fine, until he also realizes that he can only use his strength a limited number of times. Potentially tragic cases soon threaten to leave her helpless when all she wants is to adjust the weather. Unlike some of the more mature or action-oriented films, this one perfectly captures the temperament of shōjo manga, with an emphasis on the lead role of a teenager.
Where to stream: Crunchroll
For a newcomer, it can be very confusing to look for a hotspot to one of the Japanese mega-franchises. This is an adaptation of Capcom’s Street Fighter II game, but the movie naturally has a bit more intrigue than combat. , and is almost completely autonomous. There’s not a lot of socially redemptive value here, nor is there much emotional resonance. . . But the film offers precisely what the name suggests: mild violence, with enough paints on the characters to make the punches a little harder. The combat scenes are all impressively choreographed and the ’90s animation style, while very ’90s, is beautifully maintained.
Where to Stream: Prime Video
Mirai feels ignored and abandoned when her new little sister arrives, her emotions confused due to her father’s loving but emotionally awkward nature. But Mirai wanders through a strange lawn that transports him back in time. He knows his mother when he is a child, and also his new little sister when he is an adult. There are adventures to note along the way, yet the film’s genuine resonance comes from the calm, emotional moments, and its sensitivity to developmental headaches, both for us and for the families who have to deal with us. It’s helping to get a whole new perspective.
Where to Stream: Digital Rental
The plot is minimal, but it is by no means a disparagement: this superbly hand-drawn thrilling attraction is nonetheless an art painting. On a remote planet in an evocative future, the galaxy’s most popular race is about to begin. The force is determined to compete, but before it gets the chance, it will have to defeat a criminal cartel, the police, and an army of robots. The film was a box office success in 2009, but temporarily became a cult classic. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever noticed before.
Where to stream: Vudu
A true cyberpunk puzzler, Ghost in the Shell sits alongside religious cinematic brethren like Blade Runner or The Matrix (which it explicitly inspired). Directed by Mamoru Oshii and screenwriter Kazunori Itō, the film features cyborg security guard Motoko Kusanagi in search of a likely invincible hacker. This case leads him to question not only his own identity as a human-minded robot, but also the very nature of truth itself. Along with Akira, this movie is a gateway to anime for an entire generation of Americans. fans, and it’s holding up well.
Where to stream: Prime Video, Tubi, Freevee
A dark fantasy with an old-school shōnen flavor (albeit from a very R perspective), Mugen Train picks up after the first season of the Demon Slayer series, which, and the over-titled, would seem to make it a tough recommendation, still. It broke box office records in 2021 and became the highest-grossing anime of the year, as well as garnering rave reviews and winning awards. While you can certainly have additional resonance when watching the film in sequence, it works well on its own as the story of a tragic protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, who in the titular exercise decided to save his passengers. The film satisfyingly balances its stellar action sequences with genuine emotional consequences.
Where to stream: Funimation, Crunchyroll
Although Only Yesterday was the highest-grossing Japanese film of 1991, it’s still less well-known than many of its Studio Ghibli sisters, and that’s unfortunate. From director Isao Takahata (who also directed the unaired crime film Grave of the Fireflies), Only Yesterday follows 27-year-old Taeko Okajima, who works at a company in Tokyo but goes to the countryside to stop at relatives’ homes and escape the frenetic pace of the city. The adventure evokes memories, good and bad, of her afterlife, forcing her to reconcile her offering with the life she left behind. It’s a captivating and melancholy vision of life’s unforeseen paths.
Where to stream: Maximum
Isao Takahata capped off his career with this Oscar-nominated film, based on a 1,000-year-old folktale known as “The Story of the Bamboo Cutter. “The deceptively undeniable taste of pencil and watercolor is endlessly breathtaking. The story itself comes to a lumberjack who discovers a baby in the bamboo and in the end makes the decision that his destiny is to give him the life of a princess. The woman needs nothing more than the love of her circle of relatives, yet the film revolves around the dichotomy. between this undeniable distinguishing feature and the desire to meet the needs of the family circle and the community.
Where to stream: Maximum
In the future, the City grows like a virus, in all directions, and humans have long since lost control of automated systems designed to make things work. These same systems now see humans as “illegals” who must be purged, leaving humans in the flesh. -Blood survivors caught between the city’s fatal defense systems and the desire to locate food. A human organization is searching for the lifestyle of a user with a genetic marker they believe would allow access to the city’s control systems: a targeted search through Killy. , an artificial human who possibly holds the key. A profoundly cool world is built here and CGI animation is forged.
Where to stream: Netflix
In a largely peaceful world (imagine!), megacorporations hire fighter pilots to engage in truly harmful combat operations that serve, on the one hand, for entertainment, but also as a way for the world’s population to vent. steam and experiment. The visceral emotions and nationalistic fervor of war without any of the devastating consequences. There’s a lot going on here, adding the stories of pilots genetically engineered to remain teenagers, but the superbly animated aerial sequences (involving mysterious attackers endangering what was originally planned as a reconnaissance flight) are the highlights. Directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell).
Where to stream: Tubi
A cute encounter between Tsuneo, a 22-year-old college student, and Josée leads to a less traditional relationship: Tsuneo is hired as a nanny for Josée, who is disabled because of her grandmother. Money, tragedy and life threaten to get in the way of their budding relationship, yet the two continue to grow closer. The typical tropes of “inspirational” disability are kept to a minimum: Josée is a well-rounded character, and the film strives to emphasize the obstacles a wheelchair user faces. that we’re likely to face in Japan, either culturally or practically.
Where to Stream: Digital Rental
Kanna Hayama was a faithful runner until her mother’s death, after which she became withdrawn and sad, refusing to share her feelings with friends and family. Of course, we’re in an anime fantasy, so he soon encounters a fanged demon boy while running. who assigns her the responsibility of taking on her mother’s role as the literal running deity, and sends her on a quest with the help of a talkie. rabbit. Her adventures set her on the path to come to terms with her mother’s passing and rediscover her own sense of joy.
Where to stream: Netflix
Makoto Shinkai followed Your Name with this successful successor, a stunning vision of rain-soaked Tokyo and a young woman who can control the weather (visually, this film does magnificently with water what Your Name did with light). She gets into trouble, meets and befriends Hina, whose feelings have an effect on the weather. All of this has potentially fatal and global consequences, but ultimately it’s about the triumphs and tragedies of first love.
Where to stream: Maximum
A cute young love story full of music, which discovers Cherry, a shy haiku writer, who meets a high school senior when she meets Smile, an extroverted social media influencer who is secretly embarrassed by her teeth and braces. lack of confidence in other tactics and each has developed their own coping strategies. Their dates soon take a back seat to the story of a couple fifty years earlier and the search for a record that connects their love story to that of one of Cherry’s clients. There’s little at stake and it’s completely personal, and that’s more than fine. It’s dynamic and fun, one of the most productive modern examples of teen romance in modern anime.
Where to stream: Netflix
This sci-fi anthology is made up of 3 short films, well made and darkly entertaining. The highlight is the opening segment, directed by anime master Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika): it’s called “Magnetic Blue. “and tells the story of space engineers and scavengers who find a deserted, haunted, and unforgettable space station. It’s the ultimate combination of science fiction and existential horror.
Where to stream: Prime Video, Tubi
Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series ended with a brilliant recap and shocking whisper, which left many action-seeking enthusiasts cold. They may have simply been careful what they wanted. The coda to the film The End of Evangelion offers a great insight through the eyes of its main child soldier, the giant robot pilot Shinji Ikari. Where the series ended with footage of the organization’s treatment working well, this exchange ending is based on such a horrific apocalypse. that survival is the cruelest twist imaginable.
Where to stream: Netflix
Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue probably isn’t for everyone, a combination of fantasy and truth that draws comparisons to Darren Aronofsky’s films, though of course it’s the other way around, as Perfect Blue came before Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan. (Perfect Blue also cheered Madonna on, so do what you want with it. )At the very least, it proves that anime can tackle the mind mystery genre at least as well as any medium. Her story follows a young Japanese woman. A singer who is forced to abandon her career to work in television, a decision with terrible consequences in the most productive culture of expensive stories.
Where to stream: Shudder
Hayao Miyazaki’s career in animation began in the 1970s, but his paintings as a world-class artist began in earnest with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984, the first in an uninterrupted series of masterpieces that took subsequent animators into new territories. It’s simple to argue that without Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli (which he co-founded), we don’t have anything like the diverse global range of animated films we have the privilege of seeing today. Miyazaki’s paintings can easily occupy part of this list, so I’m going to recommend that all of his films be equally great, which rarely means they’re all the same.
Among the director’s most beloved films are Spirited Away (2001), which tells the story of young Chihiro’s quest to save her parents from mischievous beings in a fantasy realm; Princess Mononoke (1997), an epic environmental parable; The Moving Castle (2004), about a young woman’s quest to break a curse and the castle on legs; and My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a sweet story of two women who encounter fantastic creatures on their first approach to their new home. However, there is rarely a bad choice, the most recent of Miyazaki’s (The Oscar-winning The Boy and the Heron) airing lately on Max. While they are very varied, they are all incredibly lively and richly detailed, and they all address the trials and demanding situations of growing up (at any age).
Where to stream: Maximum
Former child star turned dog owner.